STG’s ‘More Music’ Gives Teen Musicians a Place to Thrive

If you’re a young artist looking to
jump-start your career, where should you start? Outside of traditional music
schools and private lessons, teen artists hoping to break into the music
industry face a plethora of youth-specific obstacles. Venues often have age
restrictions, bookers tend to not take young musicians seriously, and many
teens simply lack the resources to navigate the industry on their own.

One Seattle-area program, Seattle
Theatre Group’s More
Music @ The Moore, is disrupting this issue by providing up-and-coming teen
artists and bands with the opportunity to learn from experienced teaching
artists, gain insight into the music industry, and collaborate with their peers
of all different musical styles. This intensive artist development program
culminates in a performance this week at The Moore Theatre. [Editor’s
note: This event has been canceled due to restrictions on public gatherings in
light of COVID-19. However, there will be a livestream
of the event. More details are at the end of the article.]

Perhaps one of the most unique
aspects of More Music @ The Moore is its teaching artists. Representing an
expansive range of genres, styles and backgrounds, each mentor brings a
different perspective that informs their teaching style. And the participants
love them for it. Ethan Bovey, 2020 participant and member of hard rock band
Splitting Silence, describes his experience with the mentors as “exceptionally
positive.” Bovey describes being amazed at having access to
such a wide variety of talented mentors who provided
impactful and practical advice on songwriting, performance, and building a
successful career in the music industry.

Another aspect of More Music @ The
Moore that separates it from other artistic mentorship programs is its emphasis
on the technical aspects of the music industry. Building a fruitful music
career can be especially difficult for young people—there are innumerable
barriers exclusive to young musicians that limit the options of youth trying to
break into the industry. Especially without experience in the administrative
side of the music industry; things like booking shows and negotiating
contracts, which are often difficult for adults, can seem impossible to teens.

This problem is only exacerbated by
the fact that teen artists have to juggle their career and continuing
development as an artist with school and other commitments. While it might be
much easier with an agent, most up-and-coming artists, especially young ones,
simply don’t have the resources to hire one. More Music @ The Moore not only
recognizes this problem, but actively combats it by advising participants on
how to navigate the music industry as a young person, which enables them to
jump-start their professional careers.

CHRISTOPHER NELSON

The adults involved get a lot out of
the process, too. Mentors describe the teaching process as reciprocal—while the
mentees learn about technical and stylistic aspects of being in the music
industry, mentors can keep up with emerging trends and stay in touch with the
evolving tastes and techniques of the younger generation. Seeing so many young
and talented artists working diligently at their craft invigorates the mentors
as well. Being surrounded by such a great variety of “young people who are
really looking to become much better at what they do” is also a source of
inspiration, according to mentor and Brazilian jazz pianist Jovino Santos Neto.
In addition, mentoring provides a way for teaching artists to give back to the
artistic community in Seattle and pass their knowledge on to a new generation
of young artists.

More Music @ The Moore is now in its
19th year, and those almost two decades of youth engagement have produced an
abundance of amazing moments. One that particularly sticks out to STG’s
associate director of community programming Sarah Strasbaugh, happened in 2013,
when bassist and singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello was the program’s music
director. One of that year’s participants, 007th, an acapella group, chose to
perform a song by Ndegeocello in the finale, without mics. In order to capture
the best acoustics, the performers sang from the very back of the top balcony.
Strasbaugh recalled, “The audience just
stopped—everyone was just taken away by how beautiful their voices were, how
beautiful the sound was.”

Experiences like this, seeing such
talented young artists in their prime, and “seeing young artists’ faces light
up when they’re on the stage for the first time,” is why Strasbaugh enjoys her
work with More Music @ The Moore so much.

More Music @ The Moore isn’t STG’s
only young artist development program. Their Songwriters Lab, targeted more
explicitly towards teen singer-songwriters and lyricists, truly makes STG one
of the premier resources for youth musicians in that region. Also, under the
guidance of an incredibly diverse and experienced mentorship team, teenage
musicians of all genres and experience levels converge to learn about song
composition and lyric writing. This program, like More Music @ The Moore, allows
participants the ability to immerse themselves in a creative community and work
with other youth artists to produce new work that’s performed at an informal
show in front of family and friends. It also emphasizes practical skills for
navigating the music industry, providing another exceptional opportunity for
young musicians.

SEATTLE THEATRE GROUP

Another aspect of STG’s programming
that makes it so unique is the tuition. Seattle Theatre Group’s programming is
really rather affordable—only $375 for the week-long Songwriters Lab program,
with need-based scholarships available. Starting in the music industry is
already expensive for teens—instruments can cost thousands of dollars, and
private music lessons can easily run more than $70 per hour, expenses that are
hard to finance on a teenager’s allowance or with an after-school job. By
providing such high-quality artist development programs at a price that most
teens and their families can afford (and providing scholarships if they can’t),
STG is taking a bold step to disrupt the economic inequities faced by so many
teens.

After learning from their peers and
mentors, participants finish the intensive with a performance. Sure to be far
from a typical teenage talent show, this year’s nine participating groups were
scheduled to perform at The Moore Theatre on March 13. However, due to Governor
Jay Inslee’s issue to cancel or postpone all public gatherings through March
31, STG has canceled the performance. Instead, STG will be offering a livestream
of the March 13 matinee starting at 11 a.m. for free to the public. The
impressive line-up of teen artists from this unique program is sure to
demonstrate not only the talent, but the hard work of these up-and-coming youth
artists.

Seattle
Theatre Group is offering a livestream of the March 13 11 a.m. performance
for free to the public Through their partner, Melodic
Caring Project, you can view the livestream starting March 13 through March 20 here.

Lily Williamson is a first-year student at the University of Washington, where she is the managing editor of the undergraduate history journal. This will be her second year as a member of the TeenTix’s Teen Editorial Staff and arts leadership board, the New Guard. Lily is passionate about arts accessibility and art that highlights intersectionality, and she hopes to use her position as a teen editor to foster greater youth involvement in the Seattle art world.

This article was written on special assignment for Encore Spotlight through the TeenTix Press Corps, a program that promotes critical thinking, communication and information literacy through criticism and journalism practice for teens. TeenTix is a youth empowerment and arts access nonprofit.